Rooney fit for Germany
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Port Elizabeth - England striker Wayne Rooney will be fit to face Germany in the Round of 16 World Cup clash on Sunday after suffering an ankle injury in his team's 1-0 victory over Slovenia on Wednesday.?
Rooney was substituted in the 72nd minute with coach Fabio Capello revealing afterwards that he took the star attacker off because he had suffered an ankle injury.
But team officials on Thursday described the injury as minor and said that Rooney had trained with the rest of the squad.
Rooney suffered ligament damage to his ankle in March, and though pronounced fit to play in the World Cup has not managed to replicate his club form and has now gone more than 10 hours without scoring for his national team.
He failed once again on Wednesday against a resolute Slovenia defence. Even when he was through on goal with plenty of time and space, he failed to connect cleanly with his shot, allowing Slovenia keeper Samir Handanovic to fingertip his shot on to the post.
By that time England were already in the lead thanks to a 23rd minute strike by Man-of-the-Match Jermaine Defoe, who was starting his first game for England in the World Cup.
The diminutive Tottenham Hotspur striker didn't see much of the ball but was a constant threat on the Slovenia goal and could easily have doubled his tally in the opening minute of the second half.
Captain Steven Gerrard also missed a golden opportunity to extend England's lead after being played in by Rooney, but his attempt to side-foot the ball into the corner was clutched at the second attempt by Handanovic.
England could easily have been made to pay a heavy price for all those missed chances, when only some last-ditch tackles and interceptions from defenders John Terry, Ashley Cole and Matthew Upson prevented the Slovenians from grabbing an equalizer that would have prevented the Three Lions qualifying for the knock-out stages.
As it is, the 1-0 scoreline, coupled with the injury time winner for the United States over Algeria, meant that the US topped Group C, sending Slovenia home in a heartbreak moment of despair.
It also gave the US a seemingly easier route to the later stages of the tournament. While England will face old rivals Germany in the Round of 16, the US will square up against Ghana.
The quarter-finals will see the winner of that game meet either Uruguay or South Korea, while the victor in the England-Germany showdown will play mighty Argentina or Mexico.
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